Democratic Erosion University Course Student Blog

Students enrolled in our course are encouraged to write for the course blog, and to read and comment on posts from students at other participating universities. The blog offers students the opportunity to analyze current events through the lens of the theory and case studies they engage with through the course.

These blogs reflect the views of the student authors, and not those of the Democratic Erosion Consortium.

A Never-Ending Crackdown: Daniel Noboa and Ecuador’s Potential Turn toward Authoritarianism

A Never-Ending Crackdown: Daniel Noboa and Ecuador's Potential Turn toward Authoritarianism In January 2024, masked gunmen stormed a live television broadcast in Guayaquil, Ecuador. A notorious gang lord had just vanished from his prison cell. The country was clearly...

Trump has removed the National Science Foundation Board: Where does the overreach stop?

President Donald Trump notified the National Science Foundation’s Board that they were terminated effective immediately. However, this is not the Trump Administration’s first move in abruptly terminating independent institutions. This analysis of the removal explores the implications of this recent attack on independent institutions and academia.

Born Here, Belonging Nowhere: The Constitutional Crisis of Executive Order 14,160

On January 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued executive order No. 14,160 titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” which declared that individuals born in the United States are not U.S citizens at birth if their parents lack sufficient...

On the ousting of Orbán

Apr 28, 2026 | Tulane University

Viktor , standard bearer of the international populist right wing and Prime Minister of Hungary since 2010, has been defeated. The election took place on April, 12th 2026...

Democracy in Exchange for Security; What is Left When the Concert Ends?

Apr 28, 2026 | Tulane University

Hundreds of thousands of fans filled El Salvador’s national stadium to witness Shakira’s sold out five-night residency of the “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour”....

Misinformation: The Role it Plays in the Persistence of the 2020 Election

Apr 21, 2026 | Suffolk University

Democratic stability not only relies on fair elections, but on the shared belief of their legitimacy. The controversy surrounding the 2020 United States presidential election demonstrates just how...

Syria’s “transition” Is Creating a New Authoritarianism-Not Democracy.

Apr 21, 2026 | Suffolk University

Syria is often referred to as a country in transition. That is deceiving A transition implies progress toward something better—usually democracy. However, Syria's present political trajectory points...

What Peter Magyar’s Win Means for Democracy in Hungary

Apr 21, 2026 | Suffolk University

“We have liberated Hungary and have taken back our country,” said Peter Magyar, announcing his landmark victory against strongman Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Orbán’s striking defeat marks a new era...

Democratic Erosion in Bolivia: A Case of Gradual Internal Decline

Apr 21, 2026 | George Mason University

Changes in Bolivia's Democracy V-Dem. (2025). Political regime (Bolivia). Our World in Data. This chart shows the changes in Bolivia’s political regime throughout history. The data indicate that...

Democratic Backsliding: Be Observant

Apr 20, 2026 | Suffolk University

Setting the Stage for Autocracy Democratic backsliding is nothing if not the gradual death of democracy. Democracy is eroded through incremental steps taken by the dominant political party to...

Propaganda, The Iran War, and Democratic Erosion

Apr 20, 2026 | Suffolk University

The U.S. response to the Iran conflict demonstrates how propaganda and narrative manipulation transform foreign policy into a domestic political tool, contributing to democratic erosion by...

Israel’s Nation-State Law and the Fight Over Belonging

Apr 20, 2026 | Suffolk University

Israel’s Nation-State Law and the Fight Over Belonging Every democracy is based on a single premise: equality. That is why Israel’s 2018 Nation-State Law matters. In July 2018, the Israeli Knesset...

Can a Democracy Die With 90% Approval?

Apr 20, 2026 | George Mason University

Every morning, we stop by a cafe and grab an iced Americano. We pay in a hurry, walk away in a hurry, and rarely stop to think about where that coffee came from or how it was made. That’s because...

Is Mexico’s Democracy Slipping?

Apr 20, 2026 | George Mason University, Universities

Is Mexico’s Democracy Slipping? Yehyun Kim Why choose this case for study: Mexico is a fascinating and critical case for this study democratic backsliding....